Anecdote
by SIN Productions
Summary: A collection of one hundred short Pretear stories.
1. Beginnings

_**Anecdote **_

**SIN Productions**

_Anecdote belongs rightfully to SIN Productions © 2005. Plagiarism is illegal and is considered a crime. Pretear is © AD Vision, Inc. All rights reserved. Comments and criticism are welcome. _

A collection of one-hundred short Pretear stories. Originally written for Fanfic100.

These are just short 100+ word drabbles. They don't go in any particular order and may or may not have any relevance with previous or later chapters. Please keep this in mind.

* * *

**Beginnings.**

Himeno idly picked at her fingernails, trying futilely again to repress her glum thoughts. Outwardly she seemed attentive and almost prepared for her upcoming Pretear battles, but on the inside she was a mess of emotional turmoil.

Just what in the hell did _they_ expect her to do? She was a teenage girl, with enough problems in her life, and now she had the extra burden of oh, you know, saving the world from hideous Leafe-sucking monsters and a Princess of Disaster. This would've been a crushing set down for only a sophomore in high school, had it not been for…

Glancing up at Sasame, who was watching her with that curious-contemplative stare, she half-mumbled, "Do you think Hayate really hates me?"

He didn't answer her, and that made her even more nervous. How could she have just blurted that out? That sounded so insipidly stupid!

Slumping her shoulders more she felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment, but the Leafe Knight of Sound didn't seem to notice, in fact he seemed downright distracted.

It had seemed like forever before he answered her, and the thought of going home grew steadily in her head. She could always train more tomorrow, right?

"No," Sasame's voice was just above a whisper over the wind, "I don't think he hates you Himeno." He turned to her and gave her an eerie smile.

There was definitely something Sasame wasn't telling her.

Himeno's only choice was to rant on about how high-and-mighty Hayate thought he was and how it had no effect on her whatsoever. And so she did.

It only seemed to amuse Sasame more.


	2. Middles

**Middles.**

Kaoru seemed to be running in sync with the explosions that were coming from behind him. The added weight of Mawata on his back didn't seem to slow him down, and he was thankful for that. Glancing quickly behind him he saw Natsue and Mayune running as fast as possible, sweat collecting on their pretty foreheads.

Their delicate dresses were torn and soiled. Natsue had lost a shoe somewhere in the battle behind them and Mayune's stockings were sagging, as well as smudged with dirt and ash, coating their once impeccably white color.

Between running for their life from monsters, finding out his daughter was some kind of real life Marvel-type hero, seeing Hayate as a magical Knight of sorts, saving his other daughter from some life-sucking nucleus in an evil tree, today had really brought his family closer together.

He hadn't realized he had said that out loud until he heard Mayune screaming at the top of her lungs that he was some weird, demented, crazy loon.

It was then that Kaoru really wished he had some sake.


	3. Endings

_**WARNING!**_ This chapter hints at Kei/Goh, Goh/Sasame relationships.

**Ends.**

The temperature seemed to drop and seemed surprisingly cool against his skin, despite the obvious fire blazing around him. The source of the fire, Goh, stopped his endless annihilation of demon larvae to turn to him with a hazy expression on his face.

Kei loved to read people, it was no secret, and although the chaos swirled around the two of them he stopped to catch his breath and admire the way Goh's reactions were always clearly written in his eyes.

The deep, dark betrayal of Sasame still plagued Goh, perhaps the most out of all of them, and Kei had sensed long before they volunteered themselves to hunt the hundreds of demon larvae that Goh feared another confrontation with the knight that had switched sides.

And now _this_.

Goh's immediate reaction was to see if Kei had figured out what had happened, which he had, the profound sense of loss that had echoed through Kei's body had the distinct essence of Sasame. Although Kei's demeanor hadn't changed in any bit, the fact that he had stopped fighting proved that something was wrong.

Goh looked to the darkened sky as regret, anger, and despair raged through his shadowy eyes. The color drained from his face and then all his wild emotions were gone in a shattered instance, and in their stead was a calm, almost eerie shell of the man who longed for his friend to return to the side of good.

Kei expected Goh to be the first to breach the subject. He hadn't expected Goh's apparent lack of shock.

"Do you think that he found peace…now that he's…" Goh asked, his voice strained above a whisper.

Kei didn't like playing the comforting parent, "He dug his own grave, Goh…"

"I know that!" he snapped back, those emotions of his once again igniting his eyes.

Kei raised an eyebrow, and finished his previous sentence, "He doesn't have any unfinished business here, if that's what you meant."

"Oh would you shut-up!" his threat seemed forced and without any real consequence. Bowing his head in prayer-like, he let his voice trail off. "Do you think he died happy?"

The blonde man didn't have an answer for him, well at least right away. He had this odd, sort of off, inquisitive expression on his face. For a moment he was quiet, as was the city around them. Was the world mourning the loss of Sasame? Or was this simply the calm before the storm?

"I would hope he was happy," Kei finally answered, "For him to give up so much and risk so much, for something as implausible as love in this situation, I would sincerely hope so."

It was Goh's turn to watch as Kei turned back to the giant Tree of Fenrir for answers, but there was nothing but the darkening sky and the fading shred of hope that they'd succeed.

Amicably they resumed their pursuit of demon larvae, but this time the severity of the whole situation and the death of their former comrade hung over their heads. Their dedication still shined on, but the likelihood of ever having Sasame return to their side was crushed just like the dying city that still awaited salvation.


	4. Insides

**Insides.**

Memories flashed in her head, tearing at something she had thought died long ago. Time had slowed to a spine-twisting stop, and she could do nothing to stop it now...

When had it come to this? How could she let this happen? What _had_ she become?

Her breath stopped when she saw the blood spurt from his chest, precious globs of his life landing in a puddle, collecting precariously at his feet. And so he fell, and she knew he would not rise again, and as he crashed to the ground that tantalizingly sweet smile stayed on his lips as his last sacrifice for her.

The scream ripped through her body as she threw herself at his side. His breath was slow and shallow, and she could see the gray in his once flawless skin beginning to peak through. Death was beckoning at his door.

Tears spilled down her cheeks in earnest as she bowed her head in prayer; although she had asked the deities for mercy before, she would hope this time it would be answered.

It was no surprise the Gods frowned down from the heavens and ripped him from her. She hadn't asked for him in the first place, and had used and ravaged him beyond belief, but he had willingly been her knight. Her knight…

"No! Sasame!" she cried. There was no use asking for God's assistance now. His leafe was draining away before her very eyes. After all the power she had gained there was nothing to do but weep.

He had given everything for her: his friends, his life, his knighthood, in exchange for her wretched and undeserving life. And all he asked in return was for her smile.

She couldn't deny him. She needed him now more than ever, and even though she knew it was futile, she smiled. She smiled like she used to, when she was sixteen and the cherry blossoms fell effortlessly in the autumn wind, and all the while the tears fell.

Though when he was with her no more, she felt much older, like she had lived and already died an unfulfilling, lonely life. The world of the previous Pretear seemed to never have existed; as if it all had been a fleeting memory she had lost in a naïve dream.


End file.
